Hurricane Laura has hit Category 3 strength over the Gulf of Mexico, hours before it is expected to strike Louisiana and southeastern Texas with what forecasters fear will be ruinous flooding and wind damage — even well inland.
Laura was moving over the Gulf on Wednesday morning with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, and it may strengthen to a Category 4 sometime before making landfall near the Texas-Louisiana state line late Wednesday or early Thursday, forecasters say.
Storm power and low-lying geography could combine for devastating results: Storm surges could reach up to 15 feet could overwhelm coasts. And surges several feet high could reach nearly to Interstate 10 in Louisiana, endangering cities like Lake Charles, some 35 miles inland, forecasters say.
“Catastrophic, life-threatening,” National Hurricane Director Ken Graham told CNN on Wednesday morning about the storm’s potential.
Article submitted by, PragDem.